Charles Schwab Customer Service

User Reviews, Ratings and Comments

Charles Schwab customer service is ranked #49 out of the
939 companies that have a sportpref.ru rating with an overall
score of 75.78 out of a possible 200 based upon 72 ratings. This score rates Charles Schwab customer service and customer
support as Disappointing.

Jul

Posted by Carrie

7/8/17 4:42PM

Have Schwab debit account set up for traveling in Europe. Was in very rural country were not taken (no wi-fi most places)where credit and debit cards -Had $8000 in Schwab - and all banks had same result - after accepting pin, turned green, asked amount wished to with draw-----and no atter what number choose result was this account is not set up to withdraw cash! Almost 2 weeks on and in a more sophisticated area (had wi-fi) and chatted with Schwab on line- the individual kept saying I ust not remember my pin - said Knew my pin- (frankly had written it On The Card ) and had no problem getting into museums, etc. with it when they had capability of taking a card.

Since had informed them of Entire Itinerary prior to leaving was stunned when returned home to find they were sending me letters in USA to tell me they were unable to contact me at my stated email address of They ahd amde a typo (F is to the left of G on keyboard) - and noone had the sense to realize their mistake! So - could not get any money. Needless to sy the vacation was ruined. The individual I spoke with Never mentioned the email problem........ If had not arrived with some Euros had purchase from a friend have no idea what we would have done.

21

Mar

Posted by Anonymous

3/21/17 6:20AM

Absolutely the worst trading platform ever.
Worst customer service. Was on hold for 34 minutes to make a very important trade. They costed me money for the last time. Multiple different situations horrible customer service and platform always crashing.

11

Nov

Posted by PissedOffCustomer

11/11/16 3:19PM

I had call scheduled and confirmed for an Equity Awards Consultation. This consultation was scheduled because they wanted to chat with me. The frustrating aspect is that I rescheduled a few important meetings during the work day to ensure I was available for the call.

The day/time of the scheduled consultation, not only did the Equity Compensation Planner, Sr Manager, not call me. He also did not respond to my email. While I realize the meeting was scheduled on Veteran's Day, which I did not request for and they might be off, this meeting was confirmed two days prior. I find this high unprofessional and rude to blow off a scheduled call without any follow up.

06

May

Posted by lilli35435

5/6/16 4:55PM

I caught them in a bald-faced lie. Ok, let's give the benefit of the doubt and say they made a mistake or I misunderstood. Rather than clarify (if they thought they were right) or make a correction and apologize (if they realized they were wrong) - Schwab thought it would be better to rudely send me away, saying they wouldn't answer questions from me anymore.

17

Feb

Posted by Anonymous

2/17/16 9:45AM

I am prepared to file a complaint on the manager at store #882 for threatening me with her fist and I recorded this while in the store complaining about her employees at the drive thru ignoring me and not giving me hot fries . They stood there looking at me laughing which one made me uncomfortable eating them because I didn't know what had been done to them and I then went inside only to find out just how ignorant the store manager is which is a direct indication as to why they behaved so badly . As I said befit I am prepared to file charges against her and your organization if this is not resolved soon . I will not tolerate being threaten or disrespected by the staff of McDonald's organization . My contact number is . I would also like an email address so that I can forward a copy of my recording . My name is Engle Abrams .

09

Feb

Posted by Anonymous

2/9/16 4:28PM

I have been with Charles Schwab for the past 3yrs. . All of financial consultant at this branch left with in a couple of weeks of one another. For the past 2 months I found the new people RUDE,and the service by far VERY POOR.

27

Nov

Posted by Sneeral

11/27/15 9:11PM

I have the Schwab Streetsmart Edge trading platform. They say it is for active traders. It is the worst platform I can imagine. Candlestick bars from one time frame to another (daily, 60 min., 15 min, 5 min.)do not agree with each other. A stock may open at $49.50 and trade up to $51.25 and down to $49.60 in the first hour. The daily bar in that first hour will be different from the 60 minute bar. Meaning that 60 minute will show different opening, high and low values. The same is true for all other time frames making technical analysis impossible.

Even worse than this ridiculous state of affairs is that their customer service reps didn't believe me, their first 2 tech people said "impossible" but the third said it was "a known issue." But apparently an issue known only to a few that they haven't shared with the whole support staff. Instead they tried to tell me I didn't know how to read a chart. They are the WORST! STAY AWAY!!!

13

Oct

Posted by erscillian

10/13/15 4:08AM

I have a Schwab retirement account. I forgot my ID and password and tried so many combinations that I was locked out of my account. When I attempted to contact Schwab, I was unable to send a message on their website because I had exceeded my login attempts and the phone number they listed would not forward me to a real person to resolve the problem. I guess I will have to seek out a real person to talk to if they can spare the time. I also have an account with Fidelity and I have never in 30+ years had a problem like this.

17

Aug

Posted by Amar

8/17/15 4:38PM

Its been one month that i have been chasing Charles Schwab to get my refund. but every time i hear that it'll be done in a week's time. Its been 4 full weeks and 2 cycles of refund and still i did not get my money back.

Nobody has a clue why my money is not being refunded.

16

Jul

Posted by Anonymous

7/16/15 11:08AM

I was told my money would be wired to me .
Charles Schwab made a mistake and punching in my wire number. they turned around and mailed me a check. they claim that I gave them the wrong number they read the numbers back to me I called the bank and verified everything was correct the only possible explanation is they punch the numbers in. I still have not received my money I'm very disappointed in Charles Schwab and I recommend for your 401k or any other investments that you try to go elsewhere.

14

Jul

Posted by BB03

7/14/15 2:26PM

I have been using Charles Schwab for about 20 years and never had any problems until today. I used my ATM card at an ATM that had previously been compromised, without knowing. Schwab put a hold on my debit card but never contact me. Apparently this is how they deal with compromised activity. Unless someone actually uses your card/ account fraudulently they will not contact you in any way. This is actually their policy. So after checking my account online many times and not seeing any warning or anything, I try to use my debit card and discover the account is on hold (it was on hold for 2 weeks at this point). The representative I spoke to at first told me someone tried calling me and perhaps my cell phone didn't get the message- all false, no one called. Then I was told I need to wait for a new card to be mailed to and that my "voice is being heard". Well, since this is an "awesome" travel card, I would urge people to look at opening a different bank account, one who contacts their customers when they basically cancel their debit card. I couldn't imagine if I was on vacation or traveling and this happened. Any other bank contacts their customers when they touch their account.

28

Apr

Posted by fmlark

4/28/15 10:33PM

I have been dealing with Schwab For the past 4 long months. Their customer service is by far plain terrible. I have worked in the financial industry for the pat 35 years. I have called Schwab regarding the sale of stock In 2014. I'm waiting on a corrected 10 99 for the past 2 months. Every time I call I'm given different information. I have called Schwab 33 times on the same issue. The only reason I'm using them is my parents trust funds are held there by the trustee. I would never do any business with them for several reasons. They tell you that they will take care of a issue and it is never resolved. Shop around, don't use Charles Schwab!!

23

Feb

Posted by wmhilton

2/23/15 5:36AM

these employees are just worthless.

1: Schwab made unauthorized distributions from not one, buttwo of my retirement accounts.

2: Now they are refusing to put back my money.

3: 1st they tell me they have to go through fraud investigation and all I get is blah, blah, blah blah BLAH.

=> then I get letter STATING THEY DON'T HAVE ANY DOCUMENTATION FOR THESE UNAUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTIONS.
==> then I get email that distributions were done over the phone or online. THEIR FRAUD PEOPLE MUST NOT KNOW THAT ARE ARE SPECIAL FORMS THAT MUST BE COMPLETED AND SIGNED BY PARTICIPANT IN ORDER TO PROCESS DISTRIBUTION, NOT DONE ONLINE OR OVER THE PHONE.

I AM SO TIRED OF SCHWAB NOT PUTTING MY MONEY BACK

10

Feb

Posted by Anonymous

2/10/15 7:33PM

I have never met a company that cared less about their clients than Schwab.
Why are you still in business?
Your people are rude and disrespectful.
Do you even care about your customers?
The answer would be NO!

13

Jan

Posted by Long-time Schwab investor

1/13/15 2:05PM

Mobile banking deposit service is poor. I tried to deposit 2 checks - one was rejected (I found out the next day). After going through a long phone tree, then waiting a long time while the agent looked for assistance, I was told that they didn't know why the check was rejected, but that it probably would be if I tried again.
Day 3: After being informed of the 2nd rejection, I called Schwab (long phone tree) and was told the image wasn't clear. I used my local bank mobile deposit service instead.

02

Apr

Posted by Anonymous

4/2/14 5:19AM

After some 15-plus years of dealing with Schwab in their Private Client program, I was recently given yet another new advisor, who immediately advised me to sell some of my securities and invest $250k in a Pimco Bond Ladder...for fixed income! As I am nearing 70, and need to start drawing off my Schwab portfolio for income, this sounded reasonable, even though I repeatedly said I'd never participated in a bond ladder before and had lots of questions...none of which were being answered before I invested. Still, I'm paying Schwab for their advice, so I took it. The first shocker was that Pimco paid out $230K of that money for $200K worth of bonds. So I lost $30k right off the top! And now, way too late, I'm finding out that I cannot withdraw any of the meager interest being earned by this bond ladder until the entire account reaches $300k!! At the payout rate, that would take another SIX YEARS before I can draw out one penny of interest. And even then, I believe I can only draw out the amount of money that doesn't drop the entire balance to below $300k. This little fact was carefully hidden from me during all the time I was asking questions...never once did my advisor say, "Oh, by the way, once you give Pimco your money, you will play hell getting it out." Kind of like the Hotel California...you can check in, but you can never check out. Stay away from the Pimco Bond Ladder! I'm seriously considering moving my portfolio to another company...and placing an inquiry with the SEC. I believe I was deliberately misled by my Schwab advisor for reasons I cannot begin to fathom.

21

May

Posted by Anonymous

5/21/13 1:37PM

My experience is that any problem you may have at Schwab regarding their proprietary products or funds, will be ignored.
Only when they lose the class action will you get any relief, as I did.
Unless you are prepared to wait half a decade for something they could have settled on the spot, I recommend against theor funds.

27

Apr

Posted by John Doe

4/27/13 12:33AM

Charles Schwab seems not customer helpful at all. There may be a very few good customer service representatives that good at customer helpfulness, however most are very UN-customer helpful. The entire "Client Advocacy Team" is a mockery of their of their Team name, most surely all UN-customer helpful!

13

Mar

Posted by Peter Scholla

3/13/13 8:05AM

Administrative problems with Schwab's Wset Palm Beach office: Can't get them to change an address ad they keep mailing trade confirmations and account statements to a wrong address, depsite several formal (written) requests to chnage the address. This, combined with the fact that it is difficulat to ever talk to a person without going through a lengthy automated telephone answering system makes Schwab a poor choice for investors. Dr. Peter Scholla Global Investment Adviser, LLC

30

Jan

Posted by Investor1234

1/30/13 10:58PM

Windhaven provides very low returns on agressive portfolio's - I would not suggest or recommend Windhaven to any investor. Lots of hype - no performance. You're better off on your own playing the market.

15

Nov

Posted by Schwindle

11/15/12 7:48PM

On stock dividend payment dates, paying companies make the money transfer in the morning and Schwab's policy is to hold the dividends in their own accounts during the entire day in order to collect the interest on the float. Then near midnight Schwab credits the customer brokerage account with the dividend. This is robbing the customer of a full day's use of the customer's money, so that Schwab can reap more profit from customers' money. This should be reported to the investigative press, unless Schwab immediately ceases this greedy and illegal practice. Schwab reps have played dumb every time I question them on this practice.

21

Aug

Posted by Alice Quilici

8/21/12 3:23PM

recently closed my schwab ira account because I was charged a 30% tax instead of the 15% ira-advantaged tax on a France Telecom stock dividend which amounted to a $300 loss for me. I was told their ADR custodian does not have any responsibility to file the necessary papers with the company. That would be my obligation. I submit that Schwab had an obligation to choose a custodian that does all ira related paperwork and not just charge a fee for holding the ADRs. I feel Schwab should reimburse me for the loss. Respectfully Alice Quilici

16

Aug

Posted by Anonymous

8/16/12 8:23AM

I am still trying to recover about $1000 from my fathers estate for years and they keep giving me the run a round. I have to have a medallion signature to have access to the account/statement however to get a medallion signature I have to have a copy of the statement. Do not trust this company, is my advice.

12

Jun

Posted by liz

6/12/12 6:05PM

Poor customer service and inaccurate advice.
I lost almost 14,000 in 2008 when I got into their high yield fund which was billed as being safe as cash. After a class action suit I finally got 5,000 for my troubles, but still had a considerable loss.

This year Schwab could not determine if my 1099 was correct. When I asked a question as to why I had an unusual transaction they stated that it must have been reported incorrectly and I would get a new form, but then the new 1099 was wrong and they had to generate a new one which was identical to the first, and because there is a lack of communication between departments they then generated a 4th 1099 which was the same as the first and third one. Schwab then said they were not responsible for calculating the cost basis for that transaction.
Turbo tax asked how much of my dividends were from foreign accounts and Schwab said I should call each mutual fund I owned to determine the amount because it was not their job to provide that information, finally someone helped me, but I am uncertain if the numbers were correct since Schwab refused to provide me the documentation on how they calculated the numbers.

Schwab switched my banking account without telling me and when I called to get confirmation when one of my automatic withdrawals contacted me to see if I made a change, Schwab said they weren't responsible to tell me they changed banks. Then when I asked to get a letter documenting the change so I had the correct routing number they gave me someone elseís account information, compromising their security.
I asked for a manager to call me since I had wasted multiple hours on the phone trying to gather information that should have been provided to me and never got a reply so I contacted FINRA. Schwab finally sent me a letter 10 days after the due date set by FINRA stating that their manager never changed the body of a letter that he sent to someone else with a similar problem regarding the change in banks and that is why I got the other personís information. And that there was a miscommunication between their departments so that was why I had so many 1099s and that they weren't responsible for this and that. Never did I get an apology or a call. All I can say is poor customer service and terrible business practices.

22

May

Posted by broomsh

5/22/12 3:43PM

Friday, 18MAY could not get response from online buying after several urgent attempts to submit orders. Later, old requests began to appear and I cancelled them immediately, getting a "cancellation in Progress" status for each. Three hours later, after market close, multiple orders were filled - leaving no room for managing the transactions until 21MAY. I did not sign on with Schwab to have orders filled capriciously.

Jun

Posted by santarosawondering

6/6/14 11:38AM

I wonder about our local Schwab office management. Over a 6 month period I shifted some money into a non-Schwab instrument. My account went from over a million to about $250,000. Nary a call. Strikes me as odd, and I'm glad the branch manager doesn't work for me.

15

Sep

Posted by P

9/15/12 12:37AM

I have used Charles Schwab for over 10 years, starting just for low trading rates in the 1990s. I have always found their customer service acceptable, though I can not speak with experience regarding their consultants. But if I wanted advice I would be at a full service broker.

02

May

Posted by al holloway

5/2/12 5:27PM

After going through 3 levels of "no nothing"
people I reached a gentleman who knew his
stuff and was very helpful, Mr Jerry Nacoste.
Kudos and thanks to him

02

Feb

Posted by joedoggs

2/2/12 1:51PM

Great service always! No hesitation in recommending them.

02

Sep

Posted by J

9/2/11 12:21PM

Regarding the "We are not your service team" complaint, eventually they did apologize. They called to ensure I would receive the letter I requested, and they said they'd work to fix the problems I enumerated.

03

Apr

Posted by Anonymous

4/3/11 11:11AM

Outstanding customer service. Anytime I call I'm speaking to a representative within minutes.

09

Feb

Posted by JohnnyB

2/9/11 6:38AM

Schwab has handled my retirement savings and other financial needs for about 15 years. They have the best service I've ever experienced. I've talked to dozens of their telephone representative and, without exception, they have been knowledgeable, helpful, polite, and personable. They have never hurried me off the phone or pressured me to buy additional products. On several occasions they had to do research to find the correct answer and got back to me quickly. My profession is corporate training and I often ask the Schwab representatives how their training program achieves such consistantly excellent results. I have often recommended Schwab to family, friends, and aquaintences.

05

Jan

Posted by Anonymous

1/5/11 3:00PM

Everytime I call Charles Schwab it is a very positive experience. They are always so polite, friendly and helpful. It's a joy to call them.

They need to find a different service company for their credit card though. FIA makes a lot of mistakes and is very annoying.

16

Dec

Posted by Anonymous

12/16/10 3:44PM

I want to commend Charles Swab on the most fantastic person I have ever down business with. I'll back up and tell you I was a successful business man doing business in several countries besides our great nation, The U.S.A. and I know gold medal service. I am speaking of Ms. Elaine Ries, my wonderful account consultant. She works out of the San Antonio office. I am not going to try and list all the adjectives. She is simply THE BEST. She knows my personality, and brings all the things to the table in a succient fashion with a concern for me and my family that you can see in her eyes, hear in her voice and honestly, Elaine Ries really cares. Combine this beautiful woman's natural caring with her very intelligent, professional knowledge and Elaine Ries is the best personification of the company name "CHARLES SWAB"

24

Sep

Posted by Anonymous

9/24/10 2:25PM

I am a very big fan of Charles Schwab customer service. I have never waited on hold for more than a few seconds, and you can call 24 hours a day and talk to terrific associates and even licensed brokers.

They have always been able to fix any issues that I was having and have been able to do it quickly and nicely.

I must say that their customer service is among the best I have ever encountered. I would highly recommend Charles Schwab!

07

Sep

Posted by Vaansen

9/7/10 11:56PM

In my experience, nobody - credit card, bank, or otherwise - is in the same leagues as Schwab. I've called several times with a variety of issues at pretty bizarre times of day (I'm a bit of a night owl). Every time it's resolved in a friendly, corteous, and knowledgable manner. In my opinion, the stellar customer service is a great reason to go with Schwab.

21

Jul

Posted by soko

7/21/10 11:17PM

It was refreshing to talk with Customer Service reps at Schwab after a very short time at Scottrade! The $2 per trade is worth not having to deal with the lies & deception at Scottrade.

14

Feb

Posted by bjtaustin

2/14/10 10:46PM

I can only echo all of the positive comments here. Friendly, prompt, knowledgeable people, both at the branch office and at the 1 800 number, who will even chat about the weather if you want to. Best of all, when I have had online issues, I got to talk to the technical people and as a former programmer, I can say these folks are top notch, both in technical expertise and communication skills. Part of what makes these service folk so good it that they have a system that will let them call up your account and see very quickly exactly what you are looking at. They make me feel comfortable with asking any question, so that I have no hesitation to call them at any time. They are the best. And they have just cut their transaction fee again!

29

Jan

Posted by Anonymous

1/29/10 2:59PM

I have had nothing but fantastic experiences with this company from the very beginning. If this continues, they will hold and assist in the management of all of my assets in the very near future. I have already jettisoned my accounts at three other institutions in favor of Schwab.

Keep it up!

16

Jan

Posted by Anonymous

1/16/10 7:25AM

Schwab rocks, I just used them b/c my dad did, but they are 2 standard deviations ahead of all other companies in terms of customer service. Not only is the person on the phone not somebody from India, or obvious minimum wage worker that didn't finish high school, they are nice, helpful, never make you wait, and just a delight to work with. When you are on hold they have this awesome guy with an english accent give you market news too! I use them for brokerage, banking, and credit card.

28

Sep

Posted by Anonymous

9/28/09 6:39AM

I highly recommend this great bank. They offer a checking account that accumulates interest, and an ATM card that can be used at ANY ATM; all fees are reimbursed at the end of the month! You can't beat that. WHen calling customer service, it never takes more than a minute before one speaks to a polite, knowledgeable rep. You can call 24/7 and always expect quick, personalized service.

06

Aug

Posted by grantjg1

8/6/09 12:05AM

No holding, competent and friendly staff, and quick resolution to problems. My favorite company when it comes to customer service, by far.

05

Aug

Posted by Anonymous

8/5/09 6:56PM

Best customer service I've ever had. Never a wait, no phone tree, and almost never get transferred.

05

Aug

Posted by woolygator

8/5/09 12:04PM

Charles Schwab bank is wonderful because they always answer the right away with a human and not with a phone tree.

05

Aug

Posted by norskerik

8/5/09 11:27AM

I don't think I've ever received better customer service from another company.

The people I talk to are always polite, willing to help, and in general easy to converse with. One of the best things, though, is that they don't transfer you to a different representative unless absolutely necessary. Whenever I've had questions that should have been asked to someone else (to the brokerage instead of the bank, etc.), the person on the phone called and talked to the other representative for me and then told me what they said so that I wasn't on hold for forever or have to repeat the question again.

Usually I'm also never on hold except for when I call during the lunch hour. Even then I've rarely waited more than couple minutes.

This is why that even though I can find a better savings account rate at other online banks, I haven't switched.